What Is the Yuzpe Method of Emergency Contraception?
If you’re worried about an unintended pregnancy immediately after unprotected sex, you can safely use existing birth control pills as emergency contraception (EC) right away, several reproductive health experts say.In what's known as the Yuzpe method, you take two doses (pills) of a combination estrogen and progestin oral contraceptive, 12 hours apart, says Michele Bosworth, MD. She coauthored an article about the practice published in 2014 in the journal American Family Physician while working for the department of family medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. “This is a convenient method for patients to use pills they already have,” she says.Both doses of pills should be taken as soon as possible, ideally within 72 hours (three days) of unprotected sex, and no later than 120 hours (5 days) after unprotected…